Editorial
Water logging worsening
Fix the drainage non-system
WHEN the rains come down each monsoon, large parts of the city go underwater. Dhaka is in the grips of a severe form of water logging that is at once unprecedented and debilitating. The problem seems to exacerbate with each passing year. But the authorities seem resigned to leaving the city to the caprice of the monsoon.
Until it dawns upon city planners to upgrade the sewerage system taking into account the fact that Dhaka is now a mega-city housing some 15million people, such problems will persist and city inhabitants will continue to suffer. Many transports, particularly CNG 3-wheelers got stranded. Rickshaws plied through near waist-deep water as thick sheets of water clogged whatever drainage system there is. As traffic congestion aggravated on the surface and storm sewer and piped-water lines became indistinguishable; a whole lot of health and environment hazards were created.
Unplanned excavation of roads to lay utility lines only compounds water logging, something we have never bothered to bring under some discipline.
We have to look at the structural issues and build capacity to cope with the situation. Reclamation of some 11 dead or moribund channels which once helped draining out of run-off waters is said to be underway. How long it will take, we have no idea. Could we reclaim some more than just under a dozen? While this job is prioritised, a sufficient number of pumps should be installed, so that the excess waters are pumped out of the city.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments